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Aug. 21, 1923. Re; 15,680

' 1 F. E. SMALL KITCHEN FORK Original Filed Dec. 16 1920 7, 5 gnvem'toz is m e s-11 m riiatos,

1 resident }have inventedjnew and useful Improvements p rt cularly oe qr f k e iorbn in ry .Ipurpos'es, and rov din means whereby vegfetahles" or t er" artic es of;ood,impa1ed I i wv 1 19 6 t f rkmay e i yf e eject-ed therefron1, 9

$5 5 -Wlfile v riou attemp't ls'jhave heretimim lrecnjm a'deto provide forks with 'eject 'iig'devi -es,fso far asjs klnownnoentirely sat-is fi t vl yv vi i thfi k d'he as e ori general usef In many oasesthe proposed 'mainly considerable- "extent for' the purpose for-'wlnch they are zlesmned. i Qne olqect 'of j'hej present lnventlon 1s to prov de I or]:

withhnfejector device of light We ght and. U

of simple and inexpensive. construction, and ivliicli at the same time shall be adapted "for-it's intendednsc, ffi Asit is quite v member pro er by engagement with the fork tines it "is earl I 4 ev dent j that the freedom ef mo gment jof -su'ch 'ejector member de-i d sirabl to guide the Q5 ector fgpe'ndsm a largeextent upon the degree to which those tines withxwhichl it engages ap roach substantial parallelism, and that the "riding of one or more of such tinesmay 1 "render the device'fentirelyinoperative. Such bending of lfork tines, particularly the out side tines, where three ormore are employed, isof frequentl'occurrence' in 'culinaryuse, Tandafurther objectof this invention is to :so design an 'ejectorfdevice that it"s fre'edom of movement will'he but little impaired by any-ordinary bending of the tines of the fork). To this end'itiis roposed toform the ejector as as'ubstantia y flatkplate having to single "-de; opening therein-for en agement wit [one tine only or the fork. W, hen a threef-ti nefork isem loyed, this opening mavengage"thefeentra tine, butif a fork 11min" j a] 'difierent; numberfp'f tines be em-- theopenin'g in the ejector plateimay:

7 ove m se te e e when: e

*2- 1mm: EsMALLQOF .rmuom nnw-yonig? mam, i923, Serial misus filed December is, H iorrcissue fl1ed Jfune'22, 1923. Serial No. 647,129. .i

: I i in Kitchen'Fo fkis of vvhich the following is "a specificati n; 1.}

' LThsinvention relatesito forks and more form offfork, of. to make *curepermanent attachments, vto forks; of existing type in order to permit, o'f' the 'pro'per locationof thecjec'tordevicey Fu'rthermore With the usualarrangements, it is not easy,*ifp oss ihle to removerthe ejector de- [vice from the fork, and in .imany cases, this occasions difliculty in 'cleaning of the fork, vvith its appurtenance, resulting in 'Qan un-. ejector dev s have bee ccemp ie t i d @Xpensivetomake; aslwellfas so cumbersome '-i heavy; as to. preclude ."th'eir eniploym ent KITCHEN FORK to jbe most convenient in practice. In-fany .event, it is; contemplated thatthe ejector plate Will be 'substantially free", from 3 cont??? i e the ejectionlof material of substantial size impaled thereon,

- In manyjfcases Q' hen the provision of an 5 i926. Application with any-of the otherltines u m if d lred extend suificientlyclose thereto toin l ejector device has; been attempted, it has.

beenjfound necessary to. provide a special openlngsin or se-' sanitary condition rendering it undesirable as an'implement for use 1n the preparation "of articles ofioodr fA furtherobjectlot the present invention is toprovide anfejectordev vice capable of application'to' an ordinary type;. o f commercial fork such as is employed forkitchen and'culin'arynse and at'the' same To this end, ma a's herein di' sclosediothe ejector device When applied tof'a three tine,

le prh j i ei f rk erlzo p i an ejector plate as aforesaidhaving opening fork," an actuating member having a guide notches into engagement withf'which tlie "spa'ced" ;bars o'f-"thei fork handleij'rnay he f sprung, and suitable 1 means for connecting the ejector, plate and actuating member.

While the device has been illustratedqlas applied to a specific type of fork, itis clearly evident that" it might be adapted by slight modificationsin shape or relative proporforms of fork, and "although the ejector proper-has been illustrated as comprising a substantially flat plate it v is cor' ternplated thatejector elements of other andequivalent A preferred form of device Fig.1 is a planfvievvof thei fork' illust a in the "sa e ii .p e v ei I wi h I slidablyfengaging the central jtine of the tion'of parts for application to other known form might'jwellhe substituted 't orthat jrher "in the accornpanying drm'vvings 'i'nfwhichthe ejector member in inoperative position.

F ig2 is a siderelevation' ofthe "fork with the parts 'arrang'edas in 1.

ing been moved to eject material impaledon the tines of the fork.

5 As ther'ein'illustrateihthe fork comp-ri thre'e' tihes .1 2, 3,"'respective1y5.whi ch may 7 beformed of wire' ifclesired' and which are fi Fi :4 is across-"section otthe' device on" the line ab 0f Fig. 2'.

Fig. 5 is a cross section onthe line c-d 10r- Fig. 2'. H p j r a Fig. 6' is afside elevation of'the ejector device'removed from the fork. i'

herein indicated as twisted together at 4.

. The handle of the fork coi'npris'es a "loop- 20' like open frame "consistingo f the side bars 5; 6 arrangedfsubstantially parallel and spaced apart one from theothenfsuch bars bein *integrallyunit'ed ifdesiredt'o form the c os'ed end 7, and .may be twisted at l4: with the tine memberjso'f the fork. If'desired, twoofthe' tine members and the handle memberj may be forme'd'of a continuous piece formin' the third'tin'e member. The team-(m oi 'icon'st-ruction of'the forkhowever; 'is'immaterial. in so fans the fundamental features ofthe present invention are concerned;

' 8 9 .1 e1 ator thereof, said members being suitably connected by means of a substantially rigid rod or'wire 10. The members 8 and 9 may be secured to the ends of therod 10 in any suitable manner, as by solderingor brazing.

It contemplated however,v as within the scope of the invention. that the members 8 and 9 might be formed integral with the bar of wire 10, as 'for example by casting the same as a unitary structure, or by forming the members 8' and 9 by suitably twisting and bending the the rod-10.

Regardless of piece of. wire, form ng the plate 8 substantially as indicated: in 4, wherein; the ejector proper isshown as comprising a relatively thin plate of substantiall elliptical form This. plate is provided a jacent its center with an opening whereby the plate may be guided for free sl ding movement along the member2, The plate ispreferably so arranged that lts-majoraxis lies. substantiallv inthe plane of the tines of the fork,- but is of such d mens on that while substantially filling the spacebetween the central. time and the outer, t nes, it does not. actually engagethe outer tines. The actuator membenQisalso of substantially ellipticaliorm and is; provided with: open-ended. notches 1% 13; at

the ends of its major axis. These notches {plate 8v overigthet central tine 2 and move the tion-thegbairs '5; 6, mayrea'dfly be sprun the notches12, V-Vhen thus arranged, H the device is readyfforu'se, and as indicated drawing, to be impaled on the l tin es' ofithe "fork. ,For removing sucharti'cle fr'oin the I fork tines; Q

ector member and 9 is an actudependently; and the ejectorphandle feature can be permanent. yet. thedeject o'r member the. mode of manufacture of the e ector device it is preferred to form tor plate having; a central; opening at. which plate extending to the outer tinesh it with ng to int stines, witheilt' we,

device c0111pxasi-ag an ejector member slidably associated with the for]; tines, an

are arranged for slidableengagement with thebars" 5ffand"(iirespectively "of the'h'andle. In the assembling "the fork and"'ejector device, it is merely necessary to slip the same backward until the actuator plate 9 occupies a'position adjacent the center or length of the handle; When in this posiapart suflicientlyto permit the plate 9 to be snapped between the samewhereby topermit thebars 5, 631 0 leoselyengageiwith in in Fig. '1 the 'ej'ect'o-r platele -may bef'r e- 3 'tracted bythe. thtunbforjfingr oifjthe i-use'rf thus; permitting'lan; afiticle offfobdi.. as] far; I example; a "potato, indicated; 'atjA- in ,tlie

fork "tines the operatojrwb pushing upon the actuator. pl te. 9 may cause the fejector late. 8 to. 'slid'eg'along the time zuntil wit occupies a position such asshiown in 3; in which position. mandate or other rticle; at food will be; discharged fr m, the

a For cleaning the fork the/ejector device may. be removed; j herefrdml by' springing. apart the bars 5, 6, of the fork-handle; It will thus he 'understood'that; 1. provided an improved l fork comprising essentially two novel features; the ejector member guided by the central tine and, independent of thefother tines, also the detachable con-: nection of theiejector memb'en ithihe handle. These two combine to: make a very efiicientarticle but they could, be; usedg-incan, be. changed, withoutl afiecting the arrangement, of. the .elector by engaging the tine; In. other words the handle connection would operate in si bstantially. theQSame manner.v m, w" .Wliat l claimfisgz 1 7:

1. An ejector device or hitche -forks having a series. of tines, comprising 'an gej ecit. is slideable, along the: middle tine; said out; operatively ,engagingthe. latter, and a finger engageable, member. guided by, the forkhandle; 7 2. An ej ctor device for a torkhavinga series; of. times,. said-device'- Gompri'sing. an ejector member haying a sli ing engage ment with the. middle; tine q lyta gexte dgu gs g g ment w th the a ter-1 425 stantial l y parallel, spac d, res lient members,

' actuated member having: notched portions ispsof I v slidably, and removably. engagin with the respective spaced members of t e handle,

I and means for connecting saidejector 'memher and said actuating n ember;

4. In a detachable ejector device for use with wire handled forks having handles comprising spaced substantially parallel bars,

I notches at the opposite ends of its major I axis for engagement with the respective bars of the handle, and a rod having its opposlte 1 ends secured to said ejector" and actuator.

an'ejector member slidably engageable with .a fork tine, an actuator therefor comprising a substantially elliptical plate having I- respectively.--

1 with wire handled forks having handles comprising substantially parallel spaced 20 members, said deviceficomprising an ejector 'plate'having an opening for receiving one of the fork tines, an actuator member con structed and arranged for .engagementwith said parallel members of the handle by ,springing them laterally, and a bar connectmg said plate and actuator member. I

6. In combination with an ejector mem;

v ca t arrangedz for association with tines i-ofa fork having a handle comprising a pair of substantially parallel spaced bars, an actuator plate of. substantially elliptical form v havingopen ended'notches at the. opposite ends of one of its axes said notches being constructed and'arranged to be slidably en'- gaged with the respective parallel bars by. springin the latter apart and intoengagement wit said notches; a

7 A detachable ejector device for use with a, fork provided with l a relatively straight handle; having parallelly spaced elements and having. three curved tines,

comprising anv actuator member slidably v gu1de d formovem'ent between the elements of said handle, an ejector member guided 45 of said curved'tines and a rigid connecting i 'rod for transmitting movement from said for sliding movement/along the central one actuator to said ejector member','said actua-. tor and ejector members bein constructed and arranged for ,re'adyi application to 01' removal from' the fork. I

Signed at New York; N. Y., this day ofJu-ne 1923. v

FRAN IE. SMALL. 

